Hollow last



Sept. 10, I929. W J DE w v 1,727,339

' HOLLOW LAST Filed 'July 24, 1928 Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

warren srA'rs WILLIAM J. DE WITT, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNGB/ TO SHOE FORM 00., ING, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

HOLLOW LAST.

Application filed July 24,

This invention relates to an improvement in a hollow shoe form or last. In the manufacture of certain types of shoes it is necessary to withdraw the last on which the shoe is originally formed in order to permit the performance of certain steps in the operation of making the shoe. It has been found desirable, as pointed out in Patent No. 1,632,953, dated June 21, 1927, to replace the withdrawn last by a hollow last .which will support properly the body of the shoe and which will not interfere with operations thereon. This last should be retained in the shoe during the bottoming operations in order to keep the upper plumped out and free from wrinkles.

It is customary to set the last firmly in position by the use of a forming iron which enters the last and engages against the toe to push the last in place and to re move it from the shoe by seizing itmanually at the cone or back part. The last is hollow and light in weight, preferably be ing made of sheet celluloid or other material which will give the necessary lightness, resiliency, strength and capability of conforming under proper conditions to the irregular shape of the shoe. Consequently it has been found that there is a tendency for the material forming the last to split either at the toe, due to the setting action of the forming iron, or at the cone due to the manipulation of the last in removing it from the shoe. It has also been found that there is a tendency of the material forming the last to curl so that the cone or back part does not bear closely against all parts of the shoe which it should support.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a shoe last which will be free from the objections above given and which can therefore be used for a much longer time without becoming destroyed or impaired. Vhile. this invention has been described above as applicable as a last for partially completed shoes, it is also applicable as a form to be used in completed shoes to keep the upper plumped out and free fromwrinkles. It will be understood therefore that, although in the following description 1928. Serial No. 294,953.

this article is referred to as a last, appli cant does not thereby limit himself to that particular use of the invention.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hollow last embodying one form of this invention Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

'each of these embodiments, certain parts being broken away in order to show more clearly this invention.

The last forming this invention may be made from sheet material such as celluloid by the process set forth in my Patent No. 1,585,284, dated May 18, 1926. It will be noted, however, so far as the present inven tion is concerned, the particular process employed for the manufacture of this last is immaterial. The last is of the usual construction having a back part or cone 11 and a too 12. The bottom of the last is open as shown in Fig. 6, the side walls and toe being extended and bent to form flanges 1.4 which project into the opening. These flanges are narrow so that they do not in any way interfere with the bottoming operations which may be performed on the partially completed shoe in which the last is placed.

The last 10 is inserted in the shoe by means of a forn'iing iron designated as 15 in Figs. 1 and 3 which is inserted in the hollow of the last against the toe. The operating end 16 of the iron is preferably rounded as shown, but it has been found that after some use of a last of the type here shown the material forming the last tends to crack or break at the toe 12 or in the flange 14. In order to protect the toe and the flange from this condition, a piece 18 of fabric or other material is pasted on the flange 14 and againstthe front inner wall of the toe 12. Theleading end 16 of the iron will then bear on this fabric and since the fabric is secured firmly to the last, the tendency for the wall of the last or flange to break by the use of the iron will be greatly reduced and the life of the last greatly extended.

As pointed out above, it has also been found that the cone or back part 11 of the last has also a tendency to crac r due to the handling which it receives when the last is withdrawn from the shoe. It has been found, however, that by folding a piece 20 of fabric or other material over the rear edge of the cone, thus providing inner and outer flaps 21 and 22 and securing them to both sides of the last this difficulty has been overcome. C nditions sometimes arise in which ll, is found that the lower edges or wings 23 of the cone have a tendency to curl inwardly, thus failing to support a part of the shoe upper, In order to prevent this inward curling of the wings 23 and in order also to hold the entire cone 11 in contact with the upper, expanding means 25 has been provided. This means may be a wire 25 such as is shown in the drawings or' it may be a strip of flat metal if preferred. The wire 25 is passed under the inner'flap 21 of the strip 20 and secured in place there in by means of a plurality of rivets 26, 27, see Figs. 3 and 4. However, the wire 25 is primarily secured in place by the inner flap 21 of the strip and theprivets 26, 27 merely act to supplement this action. Under certain conditions therefore, as indicated in Fig. 5, the rivets 26 may be omitted and vthe wire 25 is held merely by the strip Q-Oand the rivets 27 through the wings 23.

lVhile certain embodiments of this invention have been shown and described, I am not limited thereto since other embodiments could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim p '1. A hollow thin-walled last having a toe provided with an inwardly extending flange, the last being adapted to be set in position in a shoe by the application of a forming iron at the toe and flange of the last, and a piece of material carried by the toe and flange against which the iron bears.

2. A hollow thin-walledflast open at the bottom and having a toe provided with a flange which projects into the opening, the last being adapted to be set in position in a shoe by the application of a forming iron at the joinder of the toe and flange, and a piece of material at the toe against which the iron bears.

3. A hollow thin-walled last having a cone, the last being removable from a shoe by seizing it manually at the edge of the cone, and.

a piece of material folded over the edge of the cone on which the cone is seized.

at, A hollow thin-Walled last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material secured to the cone and resilient means between the cone and the piece of material to hold the wings yieldingly a predetermined distance apart.

5. A hollow thin'wallod last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material secured to the cone and resilient means between the cone and the piece of material and secured to the wings to hold the win s yieldingly a predetermined distance apart.

6. A hollow thin-walled last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material folded overthe edge of the cone and secured thereto-and a resilient metal strip between the piece of material and the cone to hold the wings yieldingly a predetermined distance apart.

7. A hollow thin-walled last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material folded over the edge of the cone and secured thereto and a resilient metal strip between the piece of material and the cone and attached to the wings to hold the wings yieldingly a predetermined distance apart.

8. A hollow thin-walled last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material folded over the edge of the cone and having flaps resting on the upper and lower faces of the cone and secured thereto and a resilient metal strip between the lower face of the cone and one of the flaps of material to hold the wings yieldingly a predetermined distance apart. 4

9. A hollow thin-walled last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material folded over the edge of the cone and having flaps resting on the upper and lower faces of the'cone and secured thereto, and a resilient metal strip between the lower face of the cone and one of the flaps of material and hearing at its ends on the wings to hold the wings yieldingly a predetermined distance apart.

10. A hollow thin-walled last having a cone provided with wings, a piece of material. folded over the edge of the cone and having flaps resting on the upper and lower faces of the cone and secured thereto, and a resilient metal strip between the lower face of the cone and one of the flaps of material and secured at lLS ends to the wings to hold the wings yieldingly a predetermined distance apart.

Signed by me at Auburn, New York, this 27th day of June, 1928.

WILLIAM J. DE VVITT. 

